


Slip up

by girnyo



Series: Amnesiac Snufkin AU [2]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Amnesia, Head Injury, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Loss, god why is properly tagging so hard?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24308578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girnyo/pseuds/girnyo
Summary: "It’s alright," Snufkin says, while it clearly isn't. "I just, uh, slipped. T-That is all.""You slipped?!" Cries out Snorkmaiden, "You don’t just slip and," She stops, still wildly gesturing with her hands, meanwhile her fur is looking like a disco ball that went rogue. "You don’t just slip and become like this!"Snufkin chuckles, making Snorkmaiden even more frustrated, his voice sounding ragged and trembling. "That’s funny." He looks up at Snorkmaiden and she notices the cut on the side of his head. "I think I’m passing out."
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden & Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: Amnesiac Snufkin AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754875
Comments: 17
Kudos: 164





	Slip up

The first thing she heard was a big thud. Not the kind of thud she hears when Little My drops by for a night chat or the kind Moomin makes when he falls from his ladder. The latter is impossible as of now anyway, since Snufkin has been awfully late this year, making the troll mope around in his room all day, without even poking his snout out from the window.

Ignoring that issue, Snorkmaiden concentrates on the thump again. Is that even a thump? She sits up in her bed and listens. A knock? Another one. Let’s just call it a noise. And another. Now, this made Snorkmaiden rather curious and she wanted to investigate the source of the ruckus. So, she jumped out of her bed and ran downstairs.

The Moominhouse was never quiet, the small critters living in the walls, on the chandelier or in the stove were wide awake at this time, just before sunrise, so the house’s dullness made Snorkmaiden rather skittish.

Once she was at the bottom of the stairs, she considered lighting the petroleum lamp hanging on the wall, but the light was already slipping in between the curtains, so she headed to the living room without anything in hand.

If Moomintroll were here, he would grab a broom to protect her with and she'd gasp at his bravery and gallantry, but there's no one here now, so it's not worth the trouble.

As Snorkmaiden gets closer and closer to the sofa standing near the front door, she hears something. Something unlike the noise earlier. This one is much quieter and it rather sounds like a moomin or a snork than a little shadow scraping for a midnight snack.

Snorkmaiden pricks up her ear and after a few seconds of silence, she hears the noise once again, now noticing that it's coming from outside, from the porch presumably.

She inches closer to the door, suddenly missing that broom from her paws. Nevertheless, she pushes the door open. It creaks ear-splittingly loud compared to the silence before, which makes Snorkmaiden cuss under her breath.

She takes one step outside, but she can't see anything, nor anyone. The warm air is pleasant, not quite as hot as it gets on a usual summer day in Moominvalley.

Snorkmaiden looks around, and also down, being careful not to step on anyone smaller than herself, as it happened too many times with Little My before, and Snorkmaiden does not wish for any bite marks this early in the morning.

As she peeps behind the door as well, she sees someone sitting on the floor. That someone is clutching at the side of their head and stomach, their head lowered, just so their face is shadowed enough to be unrecognizable.

Snorkmaiden opens her mouth to say something, but she notices that their clothes are torn, their breathing is ragged and they look an awful lot like, Snufkin.

He glances up at Snorkmaiden before she can say anything. The two stare at one another for a while, Snorkmaiden not knowing how to react and Snufkin being too out of breath-or maybe it all.

"What-?" Snorkmaiden starts, but she’s unable to finish. She’s never seen Snufkin- or anyone like this, how could-

"It’s alright," Snufkin says, while it clearly isn't. "I just, uh, slipped. T-That is all."

"You slipped?!" Cries out Snorkmaiden, "You don’t just slip and," She stops, still wildly gesturing with her hands, meanwhile her fur is looking like a disco ball that went rogue. "You don’t just slip and become like  _ this _ !"

Snufkin chuckles, making Snorkmaiden even more frustrated, his voice sounding ragged and trembling. "That’s funny." He looks up at Snorkmaiden and she notices the cut on the side of his head. "I think I’m passing out."

"What?!" Snorkmaiden shakes her head, trying to regain her composure. "Wait here, I’ll get Moominmamma!"

Snufkin nods - or his head sags down, Snorkmaiden can’t tell, - and she rushes upstairs.

She knocks on Mamma’s door once, and twice, and thrice. Mamma’s a heavy sleeper, even more so than Moomintroll, so Snorkmaiden doesn’t wait for long before opening her door.

Her room is just as neat as you’d expect from a mamma, except one corner, where her easel stands. Snorkmaiden carefully tiptoes to her bed, trying not to step on any canvases on the way.

"Mamma," She whispers, as loudly as one can whisper, into Mamma’s ears, but as expected, there’s no reaction. So she calls out again, but that doesn’t wake her up and neither does the next five ones.  _ Why are parents always so hard to wake up?! _

Snorkmaiden nudges Mamma’s shoulder, taps on it, flicks next to her ears and claps, not caring anymore whether the others wake up or not.

To the last few claps, Moominmamma half-opens her eyes and asks, "What is it, dear?"

"It’s Snufkin," Snorkmaiden says quickly, already heading to the door.

"You have to elaborate on that," Mamma answers, sitting up. She ties her apron’s string behind her back and goes after Snorkmaiden, without forgetting to grab her handbag from the nightstand.

"He’s hurt! I think..." That gets Mamma’s attention and she hustles after Snorkmaiden.

The sun is climbing higher and higher in the sky, but neither of them have time to admire - or care about - that right now. Well, except for Snufkin.

Snorkmaiden has just run indoors and there’s not much one can do on a verandah, other than admire the surroundings, hold their paw on the side of their bleeding head, and gasp for air. This is not how he imagined his morning to go, yet here he was, so better get the best out of it.

He tried standing up before, it did not work, no need to bother with it again, even though the view is much better from the railing. Instead, he closes his eyes and listens. Listens to the birds that just woke up, the stream where the best fish he’s ever eaten swam and the wind that only sounded like this in Moominvalley; calm, gentle, and welcoming.

Snufkin feels more exhausted than ever before.  He breathes through his mouth, gasping for each breath, and a ll he can think of is how lucky he was to get here in time.

Listening to the birds’ morning calls, Snufkin slips into the darkness.

Snorkmaiden and Mamma found him in a position like porcelain dolls sit in. His head was laid back, resting on the wall, his scruffy hair red on the left side of his head from the scar running just above his ear.

Mamma grabs gauze from her handbag and quickly ties it around his head, while Snorkmaiden is kneeling next to them, calling out Snufkin’s name like he will answer.

"What happened?" Mamma asks, firstly because she actually wants to know what happened, and secondly so Snorkmaiden will stay quiet for at least a second.

"I don’t know! I found him like this." Snorkmaiden furrows her eyebrows and her mouth curls downwards, as she holds back her tears. Meanwhile, Moominmamma fixes up the gauze, so it won’t cover Snufkin’s eye.

"You’ve found him unconscious?" Mamma asks, now checking for any other bruises.

"Errm… No," Snorkmaiden answers, fidgeting with her tail. "He was conscious, just not really _ awake _ , if that makes sense?"

Mamma nods and they fall into silence.

Moominmamma told Snorkmaiden to go back to bed after they carried Snufkin to the sofa, and she did so. But the next part, to "fall asleep" seemed to be the most impossible thing in the world right now.  _ How could any creature fall asleep after something like that?! _

So, Snorkmaiden did what anyone would do. She lay in her bed and stared at the bottom of the bed above her.

She wanted a bunk bed ever since she was really small, and when she got her own room in the Moominhouse she got her own bunk bed with it as well. It wasn’t as fun as she imagined it to be, though. But she blamed that on the fact that she was still sleeping alone. At least she can stock her books up in the top bunk.

However, now she doesn't feel like reading anything at all. She thought of all the possible outcomes, set them into charts, and counted the possibilities - bad habit learned from Snork - she always said, but Snorkmaiden actually enjoyed planning things. Not when it came to her friend getting hurt, though. What could have happened? Will he be okay? Can she scold him the next morning for being so careless?

She always knew Snufkin was a rather spontaneous fellow, who did some things without giving them a second thought, but he could always  _ protect _ himself. At least, that’s what he always claimed and she believed him. She had no reason not to…? Until now.

Moominmamma is sitting at the kitchen table and she's furiously flipping through Granny’s Book of Cures and Spells. After she tucked in Snufkin and took a big breath to calm herself she ran to the pantry to get her mother’s book. It was lying next to several jams and honey filled jars, covered with a little bit of dust. It was always great to see that book be unused, because that meant no one got hurt or sick.

She’s on page 73, “Cures for fur falling out from stress”.  _ "If these kids keep getting themselves into trouble I might have to read this one," _ she thinks. Of course, children have to get their bruises and cuts, from tripping while playing tag, from falling out of trees and from getting their skirts ripped, because they climbed over fences.

But Mama saw this wasn’t just another cut and she couldn’t even imagine what Snufkin had gotten himself into. She knew the boy liked playing with park keepers’ patience and didn’t shy away from climbing to eagles’ nests just to see the view, but he was still  _ Snufkin _ .

The cut runs through the left side of his head, reaching the middle of his nape, but what bothers Moominmamma most isn’t the cut itself. She changed  the gauze she had hastily put on earlier into proper bandages , and she expected Snufkin to wince or even just to furrow his eyebrows, but he lay there, unmoving. His face was calm, as if he just fell asleep on their sofa, as he sometimes did, after a bigger portion of supper.

Honestly, Mama isn’t even sure what she's searching for. She’s bypassed page 150 and she saw how to cure never-ending hiccups, sneezes that shake up the house like earthquakes or even if your loved one suddenly changed into a bird, but nothing that felt fitting for the current accident.

She eventually ends up with a cream for cuts, but she feels as if that won't be much of a help, even if she doesn't know why exactly.

Snorkmaiden wakes up to ruckus coming from downstairs.

It's already sunny outside, and she seemed to have forgotten to pull the curtains over the window, because she could barely open her eyes without being blinded by the light.

She pulled her pillow over her snout and closed her eyes again. Maybe she could get a few more hours of sleep. Why was she even so tired, it’s not like she woke- oh.

Snorkmaiden jumps out of the bed, and unlike herself she doesn’t even check her hair in the mirror before hurrying down.

As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she sees Moomintroll standing next to the sofa and Snufkin sitting right where Mama and her put him, now awake. Were they making that racket earlier? Something’s surely wrong, Moomin’s tail is unusually stiff, his head bent down. His claws are digging into the armrest. That made Snorkmaiden rather worried, Moomintroll was always so keen on keeping them retracted, but now they were tearing into the red fabric.

She couldn’t see his face, but she did see Snufkin’s. He was sitting there, paws resting on his knees and holding bloody bandages, looking up at Moomin with a blank face. His mouth was barely open, it seemed like it was only so he could breathe properly. Then he spoke up.

"I’m really sorry," it seemed like he was having trouble with articulating, his accent thicker than she’s ever heard before. "I just… I don’t."

Snorkmaiden wanted to ask what was going on, but Moomin suddenly raised his head and said, with a shaky voice, "How could you’ve forgotten me?"

Moomintroll woke up awfully early, he did so in the last few weeks. It was probably because he went to sleep early, and didn’t do much during the day either. At least, that’s what Mama has told him.

It wasn’t true, you know? He did  _ many _ things, they were simply all doable inside his bedroom. For example, he’s started playing the harmonica! Thanks to Snufkin.

Moomin groaned under his blanket. It was always like this. He starts to think about… about whatever, really, and it all goes back to Snufkin!

He’s late this year. Moomin wondered if it was because they left too, without even a note, but the mumrik told him before that he held no grudges.

But Moomin still remembered when he arrived by his boat (which he proudly re-named Bluebird, though didn't tell Papa about it) and saw Snufkin’s tent near the beach, and the boy himself on the dock. He remembers the tears in Snufkin’s eyes, which he swept away just as quickly as he jumped back from their hug. The hug which Snufkin, I repeat,  _ Snufkin  _ initiated.

It has all been unnecessarily confusing after that. They were closer, and yet farther away than before. It made Moomintroll crazy. They held paws more frequently, but Snufkin pulled his back whenever others saw them, something he's never done before.

Moomin sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Maybe today he could finally go outside, have a nice walk. Raspberries are very ripe during June and he knows just the place to pick them. Snufkin has always liked- Oh come on!

The bark boat didn't turn clockwise this year. It didn't the year before, or the year before that in fact, but Moomin didn't give it much of a thought, as nothing strange happened to him. But this year felt like a bad joke, spring dragging on for years, and now the first days of summer felt just as painfully long.

Moomintroll makes his bed then checks to see if the harmonica’s still lying on his bedside table. After confirming that yes, it’s indeed there, he heads downstairs.

Mama promised to make  mannapuuro for breakfast, but he couldn’t smell it at all. Was his snout stuffed? Oh that’s the last thing he needs right now.

He crossed his eyes and tapped at the end of his nose as he reached the foot of the stairs. When he looked up he saw Snufkin sitting on the sofa.

He acted this scene out more times than he’d like to admit. He would hug Snufkin and tell him not to be that late ever again, but now that he’s here, he seems so far away. He didn’t even seem to notice Moomintroll, too occupied with taking the bandages off his head. Bandages?!

Moomintroll stops overthinking everything and heads towards Snufkin to ask what on the Earth is going on,  "what are you doing?"

The mumrik jumps in his place, and looks at Moomintroll. His eyes widen as he quickly straightens his back. He opens his mouth, looks over the room as if searching for a way out, then closes it.

"What happened?" Moomintroll asks instead, seeing that his earlier question got no answer. He wants to sit down next to Snufkin, but the other holds up his paws in front of his chest, "I am okay." He says and Moomintroll grunts.

"Doesn’t seem like that to me," Moomin reaches out to tie the bandage back around his head, but Snufkin flinches and scoots himself away from the troll with skittery movements. He grabs at the side of his head, before Moomin could do anything, and tears the bandages off. As he does, his paws touch his scar and he hisses.

"Snufkin, what are you  _ doing _ ?!" Moomintroll shouts. At the mention of his name, Snufkin freezes and as he stares at the bandages, says, "Snufkin? That’s- I am not..."

Before he could finish, Mama emerges from the kitchen with a trail of sea pudding, "Is that Moomintroll I’ve heard?" Then she notices Snufkin’s awake and she has to keep herself from dropping today’s breakfast.

Snufkin doesn’t say anything to Mama, still unfinished with what he meant to say earlier, so he turns his head back towards Moomintroll, and says, "I am not Snufkin. My name is Snusmumriken."

Moomintroll has never been more confused in his life, and he looks at Moominmamma for some help, but the look he sees in her face is not comforting. She sets the tray down on the table, then walks up to them.

She bends down, her paws resting on her knees, to be at eye level with Snufkin.

"Who am I?" She asks, confusing Moomintroll even more. Why would she-

"A moomin, I assume." Snufkin answers and Moomintroll lets out an ungodly sound. "Maybe a snork?" Snufkin says, trying to correct himself.

"Yes, I’m Moominmamma," she says and Moomin has to back up, realization hitting him, as he feels his throat tighten. "Nice to meet you, Snusmumriken."

"Nice to meet you, too," Snufkin says, then, to Moomin’s surprise he turns his head towards him and continues, "and you, Moo- Uh. You."

"What  _ happened _ ?" Moomintroll repeats, for the third time today, but his voice quivers more than before.

"He must have fallen, and hit his head hard," Moominmamma answers, tapping at her chin and straightening up. It rather bothers Moomintroll that she answered instead of Snufkin, who seems to be as lost as if he’d never seen them, this room or his  _ own paws _ before.

Moomin hunches his shoulder and closes his eyes tight, trying to gather himself.  _ What? This is really happening. Snufkin’s sitting here and his head is scarred, his eyes don’t have that tint of light Moomintroll always gets lost in, and he- he doesn’t remember them. He doesn’t remember him. _

"I’m sorry, but I have to ask," Moominmamma says, with an expression she puts on if a new guest appears in their door. Moomin grips the armrest harder and he feels his legs shake.  _ How…?  _ "You don’t remember us, do you?"

"I’m really sorry," Snufkin says, still looking at Moomin which only makes things worse.  _ How could…? " _ I just… I don’t."

Moomintroll realizes his claws got stuck in the fabric, but pays them no mind, too focused on finally saying the words circling around his head.

"How could you’ve forgotten me?"

Snufkin woke up with a terrible headache and an itching head, and if that wasn’t enough, now people are asking him questions without taking into consideration that he’s been asleep just moments ago.

Things have calmed down after the blond Snork arrived, and all three of them sat down to the dining table to talk. And they left him alone, with a bowl of  _ something _ that smells awful, like fish and kelp mixed together.

He pokes around the bits of meat with his spoon. He has no appetite, and the others talking in hushed voices doesn’t help. His head itches.

Moominmamma, as she introduced herself, brought other bandages and didn’t let him have even one tiny scratch at that scar, or whatever is on there, because she tied a new line of bandages on the rash almost immediately after he tore the others off.

He puts a spoon of pudding into his mouth and after the surprise of how good it actually tastes, he calms down a little. Nevertheless, the disorientation he felt earlier still lingers around the corner of his vision.

It doesn’t make things better either, that he doesn’t know a single one of these people. They seem nice enough, Snufkin thinks. He’s already eating the food they’ve given him, so if they wanted to poison him, it’s already been done.

Snufkin just wishes he could take a better look at that wound of his, which Moominmamma was so keen on covering. He feels that the side of his head is warm, so it must be bleeding, and that would definitely complicate things. He wants to leave this room as soon as he can, the walls already feeling too close, but instead he puts another spoon of sea pudding into his mouth.

"We should tell Mymble about this," Snorkmaiden says after a moment of silence. After she’s been told about this new… situation, she was quick to push her fears down, so she can be there for Moomintroll. She thought of many things that could have happened the night before, but she hasn't considered something so drastic as him losing his memories. Maybe if she got out of her bed earlier, if she stayed there with him, if she asked more questions. No matter, what's done is done.

They sat down at the table, standing in the middle of the living room, and they all had their portions of sea puddings in front of them, but neither felt like eating.

"You’re right, dear, but who knows where she’s off to now?" Mama answers, her snout resting on her paws. She looks uncharacteristically tired, and Snorkmaiden only now realizes that she must have stayed awake all night, bandaging up Snufkin.

Moominmama feels guilty, even if she knows she shouldn’t. She was right about something being wrong yesterday night, but she hushed away the bad feeling and now. "It could take her weeks to get here."

"We can take care of him until then," Moomin says, turning back to look at his mother. He’s been stealing glances at Snufkin, too afraid to look for longer, in fear of the other looking back at him. "It’s not like Mymble could do much about it anyway."

Neither of them said anything to that, because they knew Moomintroll was right. What’s one supposed to do with amnesia? It's a rather difficult problem to deal with, to put it lightly, especially when it comes to a creature like a mumrik, who is always moving and doesn't like houses, beds, and bandages tied by other people than themselves.

"We should ask him to see how much he knows," Snorkmaiden speaks up, hating the silence and stillness of the room. She doesn't dare look at Snufkin.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Moomintroll quickly adds, "We shouldn't  _ interrogate _ him."

"Poor thing's already frightened enough," Mama sighs, and she stands up to brew herself some coffee. You see, she used to stay up several nights in her younger years. Circus performances lasted from day to night during crowded weeks, and as an acrobat, Moominmama (or as she was called back then, Moominmaiden) went on for weeks with only coffee and the spectators' applause. But her age was catching up with her, and Mama knew better than to neglect herself.

Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden were left alone. Moomin's head is turned around to face Snufkin again, while Snorkmaiden picks up her spoon and pokes the sea pudding once or twice.

"Moomin," Snorkmaiden starts, but she's cut off by Moomintroll suddenly turning his snout around. His mouth is curling up too high, as if the smile froze on his face.

"He's coming this way," he says through gritted teeth, and Snorkmaiden only realizes Snufkin has stood up and was walking to the table, probably finished with his meal.

Snufkin was in fact, finished with the sea pudding, which he surprisingly liked. He debated whether he should stand up and put the bowl on the table himself, or wait for anyone to come and take it from him, but then the older moomin stood up and Snufkin took the opportunity.

However, Moominmama turned towards the kitchen, and then Snufkin was standing with an empty bowl in his paws. Well, guess there's no choice.

He walks to the table, and he feels their eyes on him, even if their heads are both turned away, it's as if they're digging into him and tearing him into pieces with questions.

Something's in his shoe and he tries ignoring the pain coming from his sole. He places the wooden bowl down on the table, without looking at either of them.

Snufkin felt horrible, honestly. Guilty even. This Moomintroll took his... how to say it, condition, rather bad. While Snufkin was gulping down spoons of pudding, he took notice of the claw marks on the sofa, deep enough that little pieces of the white material from inside fell down to the floor.

But that's not his deal or problem, and Snufkin's ready to head out of here as soon as he can, or at least away from any possible conversations to be perked up.

"Snusmumriken, would you like any coffee?" The question comes from where Moominmama has left to. Snufkin's so surprised, he forgets to appreciate his name being well pronounced. He instead answers with a yes, less sure than he would have liked. He clears his throat, realizing that he's still standing next to the table, paws behind his back. Oh no, one of them is looking at him…

"Sit down next to us! I haven't introduced myself yet anyway," she says and pats the chair standing next to her. "I'm Snorkmaiden, nice to meet you!"

Snufkin sits down and smooths the creases on his dress, as he has nothing better to do in his embarrassment. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Snusmumriken," he answers, then stutters a bit while adding, "but, well, you already know that."

Snorkmaiden smiles and Snufkin can't decide if it's genuine or not, as her foot's still repeatedly tapping on the ground, as it did since he came up to the table.

He looks over to Moomintroll instead. He knows he was looking at him, even if he's staring out the window now. Snufkin feels his tail stir and he wants to open his mouth and tell the other  _ something _ , but his mind blanks and he stays in silence.

"So," says Snorkmaiden again, "how much do you remember?"

Snufkin can already smell the coffee from the kitchen, and he wishes for it to be done very soon, because he does not want to take part in this.

"I haven't really thought of it," he ends up answering, mentally kicking himself over how silly that sounds, even if it's true. Ever since he's woken up, he's been surrounded by strangers talking and telling him what to do. That reminds him how much his scar itches, so instead he continues, "I suppose not much. Not enough."

"Your accent's thicker," Moomintroll butts in, and immediately regrets it, clapping his paw over his mouth.

"Moomintroll," Snufkin hears Snorkmaiden hiss through gritted teeth, the smile still not leaving her face.

"I am sorry, this isn't my first language," Snufkin replies, and for the first time he makes direct eye contact with Moomintroll.

"No, I'm sorry, that… wasn't supposed to be said out loud," Moomintroll mumbles, sinking a bit in his chair.

"What other languages can you speak?" asks Snorkmaiden, still not giving up on keeping the conversation going.

Snufkin's caught off guard, realizing how focused he was on Moomintroll and he quickly turns his head to look at Snorkmaiden. Her head's resting in her paws, and she's looking directly into his eyes.

"I speak Swedish, as you can see, Finnish, some German and Hungarian."

"Oh, that's really cool!" Snorkmaiden giggles a little. "See, you remember that much for sure!"

Snufkin raises his eyebrows, and as he realizes she's right, he can't help but chuckle a little himself.

"Yeah, you're right."

Once the coffee was done Moominmama brought him a cup of it, filled up to the brim.

Snufkin drank it fairly quickly, and Moomintroll watched as imperceptibly as he could, which was rather hard, considering Snufkin kept looking at him.

Guess it was justified after what he said earlier. Moomin still felt the warmth in his cheeks from the awkwardness, and the look Snorkmaiden gave him.

As Snufkin finishes his cup, Moomin takes his chance to leave for at least a few minutes to calm down.

"I'll wash these," he says, as he reaches out to take Snufkin's cup from the table.

"Oh no, let me," Snufkin replies, scooting the cup closer to himself. He stands up, like he was waiting for a moment to do so, and takes the cup with him.

Moomintroll seriously can't deal with this. He feels his frustration rise and clutch at his throat. As he's about to sit back down, Moominmama speaks up, "you can wash my cup, Moomin."

She's smiling, but Moomintroll sees that look in her eyes, she always had before him and Snufkin went on their late-night walks. Moomintroll wants to protest so badly, but instead he takes his mother's cup without a word and leaves to go after Snufkin.

Snufkin was hoping for some alone time, and now the one he was particularly keen on keeping away from is coming with him. Really, it's no fault of Moomintroll's, to seem so sensitive, but Snufkin does not want to make him cry or even tear up again, so he was hoping to keep his distance for the time being. Until he can leave the house.

Moomintroll's scraping the inside of the mug in silence, and Snufkin steals a glance at him. He can't read anything from his face, which is quite frustrating, so instead he concentrates on the mug of his.

This soap smells like lavender and sea salt and Snufkin takes a deep breath to really take it in. The water's a bit cold for his taste, but he still squishes the sponge inside the cup.

He can see a bridge from the window. It's a nice little bridge, probably made from oak wood based on its light colors. Snufkin looks back down at his paws to finish the washing up, but he finds the cup disappeared and so did the sink.

He's sitting on a, or perhaps,  _ the _ bridge and is holding a fishing rod, the reel whirling around, as the fish at the end of the line pulls on it.

"Snuf, what are you doing?!" He hears from next to him, and where Moomintroll was washing the cup earlier, sits… well, Moomintroll.

"The fish is getting away!" He shouts and by the time Snufkin could react he reaches over to stop the reel. "Did you zone out? Really, you're going to lose your rod one day." Moomin continues and Snufkin feels his face getting red. From embarrassment, that's what he tells himself. He can't help it, Moomintroll's so awfully close to him, after all.

Moomintroll takes the fishing rod from his paw and Snufkin just sits there, staring at him with a slightly open mouth, and eyes opened just as wide. As Moomin tired the fish out, and he's finally able to pull it out of the water, Snufkin gathers himself and speaks up.

"You're good at this."

"What?"

Snufkin's staring at his paws getting soaked in the kitchen sink again, the end of his sleeves already wet.

"You mean… washing up?" Moomintroll's standing next to him, eyebrow raised in confusion. He set the cup he washed down to dry and was leaning on the counter, waiting for Snufkin to finish as well.

"Well, I usually help Mama out," he continues, as he sees Snufkin won't answer him, too busy with whatever's going on in his head.

Moomin's tail nervously lashes around, and he wishes he could just step on it to make it stop. Snufkin's tail is lying limp on the ground. Moomintroll has always wondered how he did it, how he kept himself so calm no matter the situation.

Meanwhile, Snufkin was debating if he had any other problems than amnesia. Was he hallucinating? That would be just  _ splendid _ . And the ache in his foot didn't want to leave, as he felt it rising up to his ankle and crawling up til his knee, like small and sharp spikes tearing into his skin. He started suspecting it might be more than just a little rock in his boot.

Once he finished clearing the cup, he put it next to the one Moomintroll has cleaned and said what he has been waiting to say ever since he woke up.

"Thanks for the coffee, I'll be going now."

The words cut into Moomintroll, just like every single goodbye Snufkin has given him before. Without hugs, just a nod of the head and a wave. You could say it was cold, but Moomin knew that’s just how Snufkin was. But this was different, and Moomintroll can’t let him go, not like this, after he got hurt, because-

"We still don’t know what happened," he starts.

"I’ll manage without finding out."

"... Really?" Moomin's ears drop down and he doesn't dare look at Snufkin, because he already feels the tears in his eyes well up. He hasn't cried over Snufkin for a long time now. Back when he was still a kid, he'd weep whenever Snufkin even mentioned going South, not to mention during his actual departure. He's gotten better at it, more considerate perhaps, or just more afraid that his crying would scare off his best friend forever.

Snufkin sees the tears in Moomintroll's eyes and he feels that awful feeling from earlier, weighing him down like a heavy backpack of guilt. Not that he doesn't like this moomin boy, he seems kind and quite a great fellow to be around, but. Snufkin searches for buts, but as he finds less than he'd like, he opens his mouth to speak up.

"We are- were best friends," Moomin starts, cutting off whatever excuse Snufkin has made up in his head, "I just want to help."

Snufkin's head itches and his paws shake as he holds them back from tearing the bandage off once again. A mumrik with a moomin best friend, quite a funny idea to hear, but one he can believe nonetheless. Creatures didn't always act their nature, sometimes mumriks had relationships that lasted longer than a few weeks, and sometimes moomins were strong enough to bear a mumrik leaving them.

But sometimes, creatures act exactly how they were born to be, because it's in their nature, and fighting against it is useless.  _ You can take the beast out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the beast. _

"I really have to go," Snufkin pushes out the words through his gritted teeth and he grabs at his tail, keeping it from shuffling around in his nervousness.

Moomin says nothing to that and Snufkin tries to ignore the teardrops he saw falling on the floor. He turns around, ready to leave, but as he steps towards the door, he feels a sharp pain shoot up his leg. The nonexistent spikes finally reached deep enough to tear up his skin and slice his bones, and Snufkin falls.

In a better scenario, Snufkin could have hit his head on the counter, and like magic, regain his lost memories.

But instead, he falls face down on the floor, his reflexes still not recovered enough to put his paws out in front of him, and instead of the lingering sense of his old memories coming back, all Snufkin can feel is his nose bleeding.

"Are you okay?!" He hears Moomin shout, as he runs to kneel down next to him and help him up.

"Just dandy," Snufkin answers, as he pushes himself up into a sitting position.

"What happened?"

"My leg did," Snufkin sighs. He pulls up the hem of his pants to see the damage, but other than a few scraps he got from the fall itself, he sees nothing. 

"Is it broken?" Moomin asks, not sure what to say.

As Snufkin opens his mouth to answer, Moominmama and Snorkmaiden burst through the kitchen door. He’s been getting cut off an awful lot today, hasn’t he? But he doesn’t mind it enough to open his mouth again, instead he prepares himself for the new endless stream of questions.

"What happened?" Snorkmaiden and Mama ask in unison, while except Mama’s calm and collected, Snorkmaiden’s voice is high pitched and panicky.

"I tripped," Snufkin answers. He pulls the hem of his pants down again, seeing no point in looking at it any longer.

"You’re way too calm about this," Snorkmaiden says, calmer now that she saw everyone was alright. "I mean, your nose is bleeding!"

"Am I?" Snufkin asks genuinely, wiping the blood from under his nose in the meantime. Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll share a look, and Snufkin thinks he’s seen a small smile on Moomin’s face, but it’s gone after a second, replaced with a worried expression.

"Does it hurt?" He asks, and Snufkin realizes he can’t feel any of the pain he felt just minutes ago.

"No," he answers in disbelief.

"That’s good," Moomintroll sighs and for the first time, Snufkin sees him smile at him. His eyes wrinkle, thanks to how far his smile widens, and Snufkin can’t help but stare a little at how blue his eyes are.

He wants to stand up again, but when he places his paw down to push himself up instead of the wooden floor he feels grass brush against his fingers.

"You’re zoning out today, aren’t you?" He hears Moomintroll ask from next to him. Not this again…

Moomin’s lying next to him, foot dangling in the air, his head resting on his paws. They’re directly facing each other and Snufkin’s sitting just like he did seconds ago on the kitchen floor.

"Well, no matter," Moomin continues, "if you have things to think about, go ahead. Let me just put this on your head." That’s when Snufkin notices the flower crown Moomintroll’s holding, made of carnations and pink asters, the flowers nicely tied together with their stems.

He places the crown on a pointy, green hat that’s been lying next to them, and without a word, but with that same smile Snufkin has seen earlier, he places it on Snufkin’s head.

Snufkin can only gasp, the hat suddenly covering his eyes as Moomin pushed it too far down. He hears the other laugh and Snufkin joins him, quickly fixing the hat to see Moomin.

His eyes are shut tight as he laughs, paw over his wide-open mouth.

"Sorry," he says, still laughing, "couldn’t help myself."

Snufkin smiles and answers.

"I’m okay."

"-done it before, while we were cleaning," 

"Oh, hey Snufkin," Snorkmaiden says, and Moomintroll flinches, only now realizing the mumrik’s awake, "your head’s in the clouds, huh?"

They’re standing in the kitchen door, and probably were whispering something in-between themselves, while Mama got him a glass of water. One which she’s holding out in front of him right now.

"Yes, sorry," Snufkin answers, disorientated from the change of scenery, his eyes have to adjust from the sunny outside to the weakly lit kitchen. He takes the glass and gulps down the water quickly. It’s cold and the rasp he felt in his throat earlier is finally gone, replaced with a big gasp of air he takes after emptying the whole glass.

"Thank you," he says, and Moominmama takes the glass from him.

"You're welcome, dear," she puts it down on the table, while adding that 'dear' without giving it much of a thought. Snufkin almost protests against it, but he ends up shrugging it off, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.  _ A mumrik with a home, huh… _ Was he really lucky (or unlucky, depending on your viewpoint) enough to have that?

"...What now?" Snorkmaiden speaks up, and everyone turns their head towards Snufkin. 

"Uh," what’s one supposed to do in a situation like this? What are they even expecting of him? Stay or leave? And if he stays, where? Wouldn’t he bother them? He would be just one more person to take care of, cook for… But if he leaves, where to? He’s sure there’s some nice tree he could- the pain spikes up in his leg again, and he has to shut his eyes to hold back the tears. "I’m staying."

"You are?" Moomintroll asks and he wants to continue, but Moominmamma places her paw on his shoulder and that keeps him from talking.

"You can stay wherever you’d like," Mamma says, "but we haven’t any free rooms, you see."

That certainly makes Snufkin rethink that decision, but he looks at Moomintroll, who's holding his paw out to pull him up. His heart skips a beat as the other helps him stand up, their paws holding strongly into each other. Snufkin has a single thought about sleeping in the same room as the troll, and that makes his head hurt more than it already did.

Eventually, it was settled that Snufkin will stay in the guest, or as of now, Snorkmaiden’s room. Snufkin’s first idea was staying on the couch, but that was voted a miserable idea by everyone. So, he decided to go with the flow, and see what things will bring him.

After the stacks of books were taken down from the top bunk, and Snorkmaiden quickly threw all, but one of her pillows to the top, things were settled.

"What do you think?" Snorkmaiden asks, as she climbs up the ladder. The hardness of the steps used to bother her, and that’s why she chose the lower bunk, but now she’s too excited about having a roommate (and that roommate being Snufkin for that matter) to care.

"Of what?" Snufkin asks. The mattress under him feels strangely soft as he shifts around, trying to get into a comfortable position. The stiffness of the sofa downstairs was just right, not as hard as sleeping on the floor, and still not as soft and squishy as sleeping in the bed. But, he supposes, better get used to this.

"My room, of course!"

He takes a look around, wondering what one could say about shelves, windows, and carpets. Something that caught his eyes was the dozen pictures hanging on the wall, next to Snorkmaiden’s wardrobe.

"It’s lovely," he answers, not really sure what Snorkmaiden was expecting to hear. "Could I take a look at those?"

"Wh- Yes!" Snorkmaiden says, and she hops down from her bed, just as quick as she got up there, surprising Snufkin. "I can’t believe I didn’t think about showing them to you! I mean, photographs are made of our memories, so they  _ have _ to be helpful!" She takes each of them off the board, which they were stuck on with tape, and sits down next to Snufkin.

"They were taken when we found that polaroid camera up in the attic," Snorkmaiden starts, as she hands over the first photo to Snufkin. It’s of her, sitting on the sofa downstairs, paws resting on her knees. Her fringe is shorter, and less wavy than now. She’s looking directly into the camera, so Snufkin guesses she must have been directly posing for the picture. "That was the first we took, it was just a test," Snorkmaiden continues, and Snufkin notices the blush on her cheeks as he hands her back the picture.

"Here’s the few others that were taken accidentally after Little My stole the camera," Snorkmaiden says with a giggle, seamlessly changing the subject. She hands over six or so blurry photographs taken of floorboards, and black boots.

"Little My…?"

"Oh-! Right," Snorkmaiden exclaims, as the realization hits her. Maybe this roommate thing wasn’t as good of an idea as she thought at first. Is she supposed to explain it all to him now? She quickly gathers herself and smiles at Snufkin, "she’s your sister. Half-sister? It’s complicated..."

Snufkin’s eyes widen, and he leans in closer to Snorkmaiden, "where is she now?" The words come out so quickly he doesn’t even realize how excited he is.

"Visiting her older sister," Snorkmaiden answers, and that seems to calm Snufkin down. Not for long, though, as he suddenly speaks up again, "older sister!?"

"Yes, and there are many more," Snorkmaiden sighs, the look on Snufkin’s face tugging at her heart. "I’m sure you can see them soon," she adds with a smile, "but until then, here’s a picture of My."

She hands over the next photograph and Snufkin takes a big breath before looking down at it. The girl’s standing on a chair, paws crossed before her chest, her hair is in a messy bun. She seems like she’s trying real hard to look angry, but she seems to be holding back a laugh, her mouth curling up, even if her eyebrows are furrowed. Snufkin feels himself smile, and she hands the photograph back to Snorkmaiden. His sister... "She seems like a fun person to be around."

"You have no idea" Snorkmaiden laughs, and Snufkin can’t help but join her. "Oh, this one is of you!" She adds, and Snufkin’s eyes perk up at that.

He takes the photograph from her and takes a good look at himself. He’s wearing the same dress he’s wearing now, but he has a yellow scarf around his neck and a big, ragged-looking hat on his head. He doesn’t seem to be happy to have his picture taken as he’s nervously glancing sideways.

Snufkin places his paw on his scar, or rather the bandages covering it, and he feels that same itch, still scraping under his skin. Snorkmaiden glances at him, and she’s about to ask if he’s okay, but he hands her back the picture before she can do so.

"Well, your charm is better captured in photos than mine," Snufkin says, with one eyebrow raised, and a subtle smile. Snorkmaiden sighs, and smiles back at him. For the first time, it feels like it’s Snufkin sitting next to her, instead of  _ a _ mumrik, and Snorkmaiden still has that same smile on her face when she hands him the last photo.

"This was the last one we could have taken," she says, "the batteries ran out, and we couldn’t find more of them."

As Snufkin takes it from her, he can’t help but notice that the earlier smile is now gone, replaced with a sour look. It’s a photo of Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden, but it seemed like it was taken at a different place, probably one of the rooms upstairs. They’re sitting on a bed, their snouts pressed together, hands held. Snufkin’s throat tightens, and he's about to make up a nice comment to give, when Snorkmaiden speaks up.

"You took that one," she sighs, "it’s weird, right?"

Snufkin doesn’t know what to say, he hears Snorkmaiden’s feet start tapping on the floorboards.

"It was supposed to be a," she stops for a second, chuckles a little, and continues, "a date." She takes the picture back from Snufkin, who wonders why he was there on  _ Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll’s  _ date.

"It didn’t work out," Snorkmaiden continues as she stands up to put the pictures back on the wall, "not just that date. Us. Moomintroll and I."

Snufkin feels the mood change, the air becomes heavier in the room, and he wishes he could say something comforting. But he knows somehow that he isn’t great at that, whether he has memories or not. 

Snorkmaiden carefully sticks all the pictures back up on the board, but she stops before the last, "It was nice on pictures, in those silly poems he wrote, and in front of other people, I suppose. But when it was just the both of us, it didn’t feel…  _ real _ , I guess. Just awkward." She puts the picture down on her nightstand, and bows down to see Snufkin’s face again, who jumps in surprise.

"But that’s okay! I went and saw the world, you know!" She has that smile back on her face, her fur back to that lovely yellow color, in contrast to the earlier, murky green. "Found my long lost brother as well!"

Snufkin doesn’t even dare question that last part, too amazed by Snorkmaiden’s quick mood change. She climbs back to the top bunk and tucks herself in.

Snufkin does so as well, still a bit breathless from all this new information; he has sisters, the most important one of them all! And Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden are past lovers. He doesn't know why he turns that idea around in his head so much, but he blows the candle standing on the nightstand nonetheless, and lies under the covers. The blanket feels unfamiliar, even though it's soft and warm, and Snufkin feels he won't fall asleep any time soon.

It must have been around midnight when Moomintroll woke up. There was no noise, or light that had shook him awake, maybe it was simply how eventful his day was, and dreams didn’t stay around for long enough.

Nonetheless, Moomintroll would rather not think about anything that happened in the last few hours. Instead, he decides to go downstairs, drink a glass of milk, and fall back asleep as fast as he can. He lights the petroleum lamp standing on his bedside table, and takes it with him downstairs.

Moomintroll doesn’t like their house in the night, it reminds him too much of the times he had woken up during winters. Everything’s dark, and feels bigger than they’re supposed to be, or maybe Moomintroll is the one who feels smaller. A shiver goes down his spine as the last stair creeks loudly under his foot.

He carefully tiptoes towards the kitchen, and he’s reaching towards the doorknob when he hears a noise coming from inside. It's dull, but Moomintroll immediately retreats his paw from the door and takes a cautious step backward. It’s probably just the ancestor scrambling around for a late-night snack, right?

But then someone opens the door, and Moomintroll can’t help but scream and throw the lamp.

Snufkin has been lying in this wretched bed for way too long, and even though his eyelids feel heavy, he can’t seem to fall asleep. The whole right side of his face is numb, since he’s not allowed to lie on the bandages, and it only frustrates him more. He can’t breathe through his nose well enough either, and breathing in and out through his mouth made his throat feel dry. In short, Snufkin was having the time of his life in that bed, surrounded by Snorkmaiden's pink cushions.

So, he decided to go downstairs, into the kitchen, and get himself some water. He was sure the moomins wouldn’t mind, after all, it would only be one glass.

But now, he’s standing just outside the kitchen, that same glass of water spilled all over himself, a lamp, and shards lying at his feet. It will be  _ more _ than a glass of water then…

"Snufkin!" It’s Moomintroll. Of course it is, who else? Snufkin can’t seem to have a few hours without him showing up. "I’m so sorry! I’ll go get the broom… and the mop."

And so, he runs off leaving Snufkin standing there, not giving him a chance to react in any way, shape, or form. Disliking the idea of just idling around, and waiting for the help to come, he instead carefully picks up the lamp, and starts picking up the bigger glass shards from the floor.

By the time one of his paws is filled, Moomintroll arrives back with both the broom and mop. He quickly sweeps together the glass shards, without saying anything in the process.

Snufkin finds this both calming and worrying, even if he doesn’t exactly know why. Trying to make things less awkward, he speaks up, "So, what brings you… down here?" As soon as he says that last word he can feel his face getting red. He has no business of knowing about what one’s doing in their own house-

"I was thirsty," Moomintroll answers, as he picks up the shards with a shovel, and takes the mop into his paws. "And you?"

"Ah, m-me too," Snufkin answers and they fall back into the quiet. How can talking to one's best friend feel so embarrassing?! As if Snufkin could take a wrong step any minute, and Moomintroll would look at him like he's grown another head.

Moomin wipes up the spilled water from the floor, dreading the moment he’ll be finished, because that means he’ll have to talk to Snufkin. And he thought things were difficult between them before, now what’s he supposed to-!

"Can I help?" Snufkin asks, paws behind his back. A big water stain is in the middle of his dress, which Moomintroll noticed earlier. He actually brought a rag, just so Snufkin wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with wet clothes on. He thought he’d give it to him as soon as he arrived back, but Snufkin was squatting with a paw filled with glass shards and it just wouldn’t work out. 

"Of course," Moomintroll hands him the mop quickly, after realizing he’s been staring at Snufkin’s chest for way too long. He takes the small shovel filled with the shards to the trash can standing in the corner.

"Sorry for scaring you," Snufkin says, looking at the floor, while Moomintroll heads back toward him.

"Don’t be silly!  _ I’m _ sorry for getting scared," Moomintroll answers, and he takes back the mop from Snufkin as he finishes cleaning up. He leans it against the wall, and awkwardly sits down on the sofa, not really sure what to do with himself now. He wants to talk to Snufkin, of course he does! But at the same time he wishes he could run back into his room, and not come out until Snufkin's back. Truly back.

Snufkin takes Moomintroll taking a seat on the sofa as an invitation, though an unwelcome one. The size of the sofa is making it hard to decide whether he should sit right next to Moomin, or the opposite end of it, as far away from him as he can. He would rather keep his distance, but Moomin himself said they were best friends, so Snufkin decides to do the first one, and he plops down close to him.

"How’s your head?" Moomintroll asks, but he doesn’t look at Snufkin, he’s staring at the floor instead and Snufkin can’t decide if that makes him comfortable or uncomfortable.

"It itches," he answers in short, "not much else."

"And your leg?" Moomin looks at his leg now, and Snufkin realizes he’s avoiding looking at him on purpose, and he settles on the uncomfortable feeling. So, he looks up at Moomin when he answers.

"It’s fine now, not sure what even caused the pain."

Moomintroll hums in response, and his tail that was calmly swishing next him now perks up, and he has to hold it down with his paw. Of course, he tries to do that as smoothly as he can, but he still feels Snufkin continuing to look at him.

"So," Snufkin speaks up again. This is way too awkward for him. If one decides to sit down with another, they should be the one to start the conversation. This Moomintroll was too complicated for him, and he wishes he would have just stayed in the bed upstairs. "We’re best friends, huh?"

"Y-Yes," Moomintroll stutters out, forgetting to keep his eyes on the floor. He locks eyes with Snufkin and he feels his tail flapping under his paw. "Very best."

"That’s nice," Snufkin hums, and he smiles. That smile Moomin longed to see again, and now it’s there in front of him and he feels miserable. Snufkin crosses his arms and leans back, Moomin taking a quick glance at the bandages Mamma neatly tied around his head.

"Does it… hurt?" Moomin asks, and then hurriedly adds, "Not remembering, I mean."

Snufkin’s smile disappears as he thinks about the answer. He wouldn’t say it hurts, it’s a whole other, strange kind of feeling. The cut on his head hurts, yes, but the empty space of his memories doesn’t. It’s just there, a lingering sensation of something missing, from his paws, his head, his heart.

"Not in particular," he answers. "Should it?"

"Of course not!" Moomintroll answers quickly, slightly raising his voice. "Or, at least, I wouldn’t want it to," he adds, now quieter.

Moomintroll looks away again. They’re just circling around each other, this has no use, it’s just a waste of time. He wishes he at least had an answer, a solution, no matter what it would be. He’d give everything to help Snufkin, even if he’s too scared and embarrassed to tell him that.

Snufkin yawns, his mouth opening wide enough to show the small, pointy canines that Moomintroll once poked, after asking for his friend's permission. The memory makes him smile, while Snufkin rubs at his eyes, too tired to hide his sleepiness.

"You know what’s strange?" Snufkin says, while he’s still rubbing his left eye. "I thought we would be sleeping in the same room tonight."

Moomin lets out a sound, which is hard to name, something between a person being stabbed and a person being kissed. He composes himself, as fast as he can, but his tail is wagging, as he's given up on holding it down by now. One's not supposed to hide their feelings and keep their tails from lashing around, right?

"Oh, sorry, did that make you uncomfortable?" Snufkin asks. Moomintroll can't blame him, of course he would think that after his reaction.

So, he quickly answers, "No! I was just caught off guard. You see, we've actually done that before. Many times, actually."

"Really?" Snufkin asks, somehow less surprised than he should be. He feels his tail move around as well, and he decides he'll tuck it into his pants the next morning.

"Yes," Moomintroll says softly, "sleepovers with you were always a lot of fun."

If Snufkin's head looked as red as he imagined it did, then he'd look like a big, round tomato right now. He doesn't even know why his cheeks light up so badly at the mention of Moomintroll and him sleeping together. They were friends, excuse him,  _ best _ friends who naturally did stuff like that. He was the one who mentioned it after all, and he doesn't even know why he did so. The thought's been simply bugging him ever since he lay into Snorkmaiden's bed, and it seemed to escape from his mouth due to his tiredness.

"Why didn't you say so while we were discussing my rooming?" Snufkin asks before he could stop himself from doing so again, too curious to hear Moomin's answer.

"I thought you'd find it weird," he quietly answers.

"Why would I?" Snufkin asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Why?!" Moomintroll asks, more high-pitched than he'd like. "You don't remember me, Snuf- Snusmumriken," he continues, quickly correcting the name. "I was scared you would try to run off again."

Snufkin swallows hard, remembering the pain in his leg when he tried to do so. Ever since then, it has been quite fine, still a bit sore from the fall, but the spikes haven't returned yet. "That's… understandable."

They stay in silence for a few seconds, each of them gathering the courage to ask the question that they themselves are longing to hear from the other. Eventually, Moomintroll's the braver, or perhaps simply quicker one, and he speaks up, "Would you like to have a sleepover tonight?"

Snufkin thought it was silly of him, wanting to sleep together with a stranger, but he couldn't get Moomintroll's eyes out of his head. Those eyes, that were looking at him right now, impatient for an answer.

"Yes," Snufkin mumbles, still unsure of himself. Moomintroll smiles wide, and Snufkin feels his scar sting at the sight of his friend's bright face.

In the end, neither of them got their drinks they had originally gone down for. Instead, they got each other, and that seemed to work just as fine.

Snufkin's lying under Moomintroll's heavy blanket, his tail curling around Moomin's in his sleep. He doesn't know that, of course, and neither does Moomintroll, because he's fast asleep himself.

Originally, his plan was to tuck Snufkin in, and get his sleeping bag from his wardrobe to set up on the floor. But when Snufkin climbed into his bed, and shuffled to the right side, Moomintroll realized the other thought they'd be sleeping in the same bed.

They've done that before, and it was just as thrilling as it always was. So, what else could Moomin do than lie down next to Snufkin and try to fall asleep?

Which happened surprisingly quickly, at least for Snufkin. He was exhausted from all the new people and information that has been swirling around his head the whole day, and now he finally could forget it all (as ironic as that sounds).

On the other hand, Moomintroll seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes closed. He stole some glances at Snufkin while they were both awake, but once the other had fallen asleep, he couldn't help but look at him for longer. He looked more fragile than Moomin had ever seen before, and he supposed everyone does while they're asleep, but he still was afraid of accidentally squashing him in his sleep.

While Moomintroll was debating whether he should get that sleeping bag out of his closet anyway, Snufkin shuffles closer to him and buries his head into his shoulder. Moomin doesn't dare to move from then on.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i'd love to hear some criticism in the comments :]  
> also, most of u probably came from tumblr, but if you didn't, then you can check out my art for this au @girny0  
> and everyone say thank u to @supercasey for helping me out, go read his fics


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